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Letters Pa-trmtNo. 93,167; datedniugust 3, 1869.

: IMPROVEMENT m SCREW-Pussies.

I Mm- The Schedule referred to'in these Letters Patent and making part of the lame.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY O. BOWEN, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Presses adapted for compressing bales of cotton, hay, &o., or for -n1isccllaneous purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

My press is a screw-press, with its parts peculiarly constructed and arranged to allow a very great increase of-purchase towards the latter part of the compressing-operation, and to allow a rapid movement in the early stages and in lifting the platen.

The accompai-lying drawings form a part of this specification, i

Figure 1. is a front elevation, and

Figure '2, a vertical sect-ion, showing the press in the condition before the maximum power has been applied.

Figure 3 is a front view, showing the press after the maximum power has been applied.

Figure 4 is a top view, corresponding to fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a horizontal section, showing the parts in the condition corresponding to fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

A is the bed, of cast-irom or other suitable materiai.

A is a top, of the same material.

a a, 860., arestout wrought-iron rods, holding the parts A and A strongly in position by collars and nuts.

B is a heavy fixed nut, supported in' the top A.

O is a stout platen, guided on the rods c.

D is a cap-ring, which fits on a correspondinglythreaded part of the platen.

I denomiuate, by the general letter E, a stout screw through which the power is applied.

It is operated by a lever, G, having a double pawl, g, and spring g, adapted to act on a toothed wheel or ratchet F, fixed on the plain part of the screw E. near its centre.

- The relation of these parts is very clearly shown in thedrawing, and will be readily understood.

The .screw E is threaded both above and below the plain portion, and both parts are right-handed threads; but the upper part, E, is threaded a little finer than the lower part, E. 4

The part 15 works in the fixed nut B, and the part E works in a long nut, H, which is in a boss on the platen G.

The out H is confined by the scrcw cap D, so that it cannot move endwise inthe platen; but it' is round, I

and is free to turn around on its axis, being operated and governed in its motion by the hand-wheel I.

The lower cdgeof this round nut H is provided with apolished steel ring, as indicated by h, bolted to the nut, as represented, which bears upon the disk 0 in the platen. I

'When the press is operated to depress the platen 0 with its maximum force, the motion is transmitted from the screw through the round nut H and as the screw E E E is turned, it tends to depress the nut -H, and with it the platen O, at a certain speed, ac-

cording to thepitch of the coarser part E of the screw, and it tends to raise the entire screw and its connections at another speed, a little slower, according to the pitch of the part E of the screw, which is a little finer than the part E consequently the screw rises bodily at a rate of speed which is very readily appreciated, hutthe platen is depressed very slowly, and consequently with very great force.

It will be readily seen that the extent of the motion of the platen thus produced with the maximum force must be very little. I

The screw E would soon traverse so high as to dis- 7 connect itself from the nut H, if this means of inducing motion were carried to a very great'extent.

It follows, therefore, that it is desirable to operate the press by depressing the platen as much as possible by other means before this maximum force is applied.

In practice, therefore, after putting any article under the platen O, the press is first operated by reciprocating the lever G with the double pawl 9, adj usted to turn so as to turn the screw E E E in the direction with the sun; that is to say, the screw is screwed down into the nut H, until itis quite down,

. if not already there, and it is then turned furtherin u the same direction, carrying the nut with it.

This operation is continued until the pla en nears forcibly upon the article being pressed, and it is further operated to compress the longer be thus operated. V

' In this condition of the press, the screw E E IE will stand as low as it will go in theturningmut H.

Now, allowing the turning-nut to rest stationary in the boss of the platen, and providing means for looking or otherwise securing it relatively thereto, if such be found necessary, I commence. to operate the screw E E E by turning it against the S1111; that is to say, I adjust the double pawl g in the opposite position, so that the spring gf shall cause the opposite end of the double pawl to act.

And, now, as the lever G is reciprocated horizontally by the attendants, it raises the screw, causing it to mount upward in the to'p A.

This operation depresses the platen G at each revolution only by the very small difference between the pitch of the part E and of the part E.

article until it can no hold of the screw 'uponthe revolving nut, to block the platen down by stout pieces introduced between the platen and the top piece'A, if the goods compressed are elastic, and to run the screw down again by reversing the position of the pawl g and appropriately operating the lever G, and then, by turning the hand-wheel I, to take up the slack or gain thus induced, to again apply the maximum force of the pressby again reversing thepositidn of the pawl g, and again raising the screw and slightly depressing the platen, as before. In treating most articles, this duplication of the operation is not necessary. It is suflicient to simply drive down. the .platen by the simple and ordinary screw-action, as first described, so as to bring out the greatest pressure which this mode ofoperation will secure, and then to turn the screw up and compress the goods a little more, as before described.

To relax the pressure, the operations above described are reversed, except that it isnecessary to work the screw down, and thus to relax the pressure at the very slow rate at which the maximum pressurewas obtained only for a very short distance.

Unless the material pressed is very elastic, a slight raising of the platen diminishes the force so that the platen maybe raised and the parts all brought to their proper-v positions by simply turning the nut H, by means of the hand-wheel I that is to say, if it is necessary for two or any other number of strong men to reciprocate the lever Gfor a hundred strokes to depress the platen, the same gang, reciprocating the lever with the pawl reversed five strokes, will relieve the press so much that the platen may he then raised rapidly by the hand-wheel I, which, as will be readily seen, turns the nut H upward upon the threads E until it can go no further thereon, and then commences to turn the screw itself, raising the whole by the working of the thread E.

Inthis manner the platen is raised as high as may I be required to commence next operation.

I do not confine myself to the precise details of the mechanism here represented; many modifications in example, the cap D may be fastened on by set-screws or various other means, instead of carrying a screwthread on its interior; or the position of the press may be reversed so that the platen will follow the screw down by its own weight.

The cap D will not then he needed.

Bevel-gears may be substituted for the band-wheel I and-ratchet F on the screw E, and hand-wheels or ratchets may be mounted on shafts at right angles to the screw E; or various other arrangements may be made for applying power to my several partsbesides those here represented.

My press is extremely simple in construction, and may be very cheaply built and easily kept in repair.

7 the rapidity of its operation, and the intensity of its final pressure, never before realized in a press of analogous character.

What I claim. as my invention, and'desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

.1. Tire differential screw E E E, in combination with the movable nut H, adapted tobe turned at will, with suitable operating-means for turning the screw and the out so as to operate the press, substantially an independent lever and pawl'in both directions, obtaining thetwo degrees of advantage, all substantially as andfor the purposes herein represented and described.

. HENRY '0. BOWEN.

Witnesses Tuorms D. Srsrson, G. 0. Llvmes.

the form may be made by any good mechanic. For

It aifords advantages in the extent of its motion, and

in the manner and for the purposes herein vset forth.'

2. The'withiu-described press, in its entire comand the difl'erential screw E E E being operated by 

